A ballot drop box damaged in a suspected arson incident in Vancouver, Washington, on Oct. 28, 2024. (Monika Spykerman/The Columbian)

State and federal authorities are investigating a deliberately set fire that destroyed ballots inside a drop box in southwest Washington on Monday morning.

Ruined ballots were pulled from the drop box at Fisher’s Landing Transit Center in Vancouver. Some may still be able to be duplicated and tallied, officials said.

“It’s heartbreaking. It’s a direct attack on democracy,” said Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey.

Kimsey said hundreds of ballots were destroyed. It was not immediately known exactly how many ballots were burned or damaged. The FBI is among the agencies investigating the incident.

Vancouver is located in the 3rd Congressional District, where Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is running for reelection against Republican Joe Kent. The race is one of a handful nationwide expected to determine partisan control of the U.S. House. In 2022, Gluesenkamp Perez beat Kent by 2,629 votes.

In a statement, Gluesenkamp Perez called for “an overnight law enforcement presence” at all drop boxes in the county through Election Day. “Southwest Washington cannot risk a single vote being lost to arson and political violence,” she said.

At about 4 a.m. on Monday, Vancouver Police responded to a report that the ballot drop box at 3510 SE 164th Ave. was smoking and on fire. When officers arrived, they located a suspicious device next to the box, according to a police report.

The fire was extinguished and the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit collected the device. Arson investigators from the city police and fire marshal office responded.

After viewing the damaged box, Kimsey said it appeared to him that the fire was set outside and got inside the box.

Ballots were last collected from that box at 11 a.m. Saturday. “Anyone who used that drop box after 11 a.m. should get a replacement,” he said.

Voters can go to www.votewa.gov to see if their ballot was received. To get a replacement, call the Clark County elections office at 564-397-2345 or send an email to elections@clark.wa.gov.

Clark County first installed ballot drop boxes in 2005. It now has 23. The one at Fisher’s Landing will be replaced on Monday, Kimsey said.

As a result of the incident, he said the county will modify its pick-up schedule to ensure ballots are retrieved each evening.

Earlier this month, before voting began, someone caused minor damage to a drop box in downtown Vancouver. Kimsey said law enforcement is investigating and did not know if it is related to what occurred Monday.

Meanwhile, police in Portland, Oregon are investigating the discovery of an incendiary device inside a ballot box at around 3:30 a.m. Monday.

In Oregon, the Multnomah County elections division said in a press release that fire suppressant inside the box protected nearly all of the ballots. Three were damaged, and the elections office plans to contact those voters so they can receive replacement ballots.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs on Monday denounced the arson and said he’s confident any “impacted voter” will get a replacement ballot in time to participate in the Nov. 5 election.

“I strongly denounce any acts of terror that aim to disrupt lawful and fair elections in Washington state,” he said. “Despite this incident, I have complete confidence in our county elections official’s ability to keep Washington’s elections safe and secure for all voters.”

The leader of the Washington State Republican Party said what occurred in Vancouver reinforces the need for Washington to ditch vote-by-mail.

“Washington needs to get back to in-person, same-day voting,” party chairman Jim Walsh said in a statement. “Our experiment with ‘100% mail-in-voting’ is not secure, because of the broken chain-of-custody issues inherent in mail-in voting. These arson attacks are proof of that.”

Washington State Democratic Party Chair Shasti Conrad urged voters who used the dropbox to check the status of their ballots.

“Voting is safe and easy, and Washington state is proud to have one of the most secure elections systems in the country,” Conrad said in a statement. “We take the rights of every voter extremely seriously.”

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